Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Boosts Stock Position in Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) by 31.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,476 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,285 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Flowers Foods were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FLO. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,476,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Flowers Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,591,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,521,000 after acquiring an additional 965,097 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,475,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,138,000 after acquiring an additional 623,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,058,000. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Price Performance

Shares of FLO opened at $15.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Flowers Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.74 and a 12 month high of $23.87.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Flowers Foods had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 4.49%. Flowers Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Flowers Foods, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. This is an increase from Flowers Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Flowers Foods from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flowers Foods news, Director George E. Deese purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.84 per share, with a total value of $101,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,004,990 shares in the company, valued at $33,764,031.60. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William Jameson Mcfadden purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.92 per share, with a total value of $50,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 532,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,009,493.92. This represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $202,440 in the last three months. 11.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Flowers Foods Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.